Welcome to the August 2024 Axelar Developer Newsletter. This month, Axelar takes giant leaps in cross-chain interoperability with our mainnet upgrade, Interchain Amplifier hitting testnet, and a collaboration with OpenZeppelin.

🆙 Axelar Network upgrade: v1.0.2

On August 28, 2024, we successfully upgraded our mainnet to v1.0.2, paving the way for exciting new features:

• Mainnet deployment for Amplifier
• Enhanced stability and performance
• New IBC-related queries for better chain connectivity
• "BatchRequest" message type for granular transaction handling
• Quick (de)activation of core-amplifier connections

This release enabled mainnet deployment for Amplifier and included updates to axelard, vald (1.0.2), and tofnd (1.0.1).

What this means for you: Faster, more reliable cross-chain operations and greater flexibility in managing your interchain applications.

Ready to upgrade? Check out our detailed instructions and changelog.

🔬 Interchain Amplifier: now on testnet, coming soon to mainnet

The Interchain Amplifier has hit testnet, with mainnet deployment just around the corner. This feature offers:

• Seamless connection of diverse blockchain consensus engines
• Integration with traditional off-chain systems
• Minimal developer overhead

Key components include:

• On-chain message router
• Gateways
• CosmWasm methods for bidirectional messaging

What this means for you: Unprecedented flexibility in building cross-chain applications with reduced complexity.

Curious? Get started with Amplifier.

🤝OpenZeppelin Integration

We're excited to announce that Axelar and OpenZeppelin are joining forces to solve Ethereum's interoperability challenges, especially with the rise of Layer 2 solutions. For you as a developer, this collaboration means:

• Standardized Solidity code for cross-chain messaging
• Integration with OpenZeppelin's Contract Wizard
• Simplified tools for building interchain contracts using Axelar

Excited to learn more? Read the full announcement.

📚 New tutorials, docs, and more

We've just published several relevant technical articles and documentation updates.

Amplifier

• Amplifier Roadmap: Learn about what you'll be able to do with Amplifier now and in the future, as the Interop Labs team rolls out more features.
• Message Relaying with Amplifier: Learn how to relay cross-chain messages using Axelar's Amplifier, from message verification to execution on the destination chain, with code examples provided for Avalanche and Ethereum Sepolia.
• Verifier Security Expectations: Learn about the security expectations for verifiers in the Axelar network, including running full nodes, maintaining uptime, rotating keys, pulling rewards, supporting trustworthy chains, and participating in security drills and escalations.
• Add rewards for Amplifier chain integrators: Learn how to add funds to the rewards pool of an Amplifier-integrated chain.
• Common Amplifier Error Messages (Chain Integrators).
• Common Amplifier Error Messages (Verifiers / Relayers).

ITS

• Create Multichain Tokens with Interchain Token Service: Learn how to create a Multichain Token that is fungible and customizable across all blockchains.
• Bridge your Existing ERC20 token to all chains with ITS using the Ethereum: Learn how to programmatically create a Canonical Interchain Token from scratch using Interchain Token Service and the Ethereum Boilerplate.
• How to Mint an ERC-20 Token on Base with the Interchain Token Service in 5 Steps: This step-by-step guide will teach you how to mint a multichain ERC-20 token on the Base network using Axelar’s Interchain Token Service (ITS) and use the Moralis Token API to retrieve token balances easily.

Docs Updates

• Cross-Chain Messaging: EVM to Cosmos: Learn to enable cross-chain communication between EVM and Cosmos using Axelar's GMP. This tutorial covers deploying contracts on Avalanche and Osmosis, sending and receiving messages between them, and verifying transactions, allowing you to build interoperable dApps across both ecosystems.
• Specify the refund address for a contract call: Learn how to specify a refund address for unused gas in Axelar's GMP.
• Transactions: Tracking and Retrying Failed States: Learn how to track and recover failed blockchain transactions using Axelarscan and the AxelarJS SDK.
• CommandID: Learn about the CommandID, a unique identifier crucial for secure cross-chain communication, its role in message verification, and examples in Solidity and Go to prevent replay attacks and ensure message integrity.

🎤 Catch up on any events you missed

Did you miss our recent talks? Here are some highlights:

• Build a Multichain RWA Lending Platform
• Building a Multichain Tax Contract with ITS
• Moralis Presents: Building Multichain Stablecoins

We have a lot more planned for the upcoming months, so you don’t want to miss out. To stay up Follow us on X and join Discord to stay abreast of upcoming developer content and live events.

We have a lot more planned for the upcoming months, so you don’t want to miss out. To stay up to date on the latest Axelar news, make sure you are subscribed to the Axelar Devblog.